NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Trevor Ringland, has challenged political parties in east Belfast to stump up the cash to remove flags which were put up to mark the 100th anniversary of the UVF. “This event took place on the 20th April and there was an agreement in place with the organisers that the flags would come down quickly afterwards”, Trevor explained. “Instead they are still flying over a week later, on the Belmont Road, Holywood Road and Newtownards Road.” “That is simply not acceptable. Residents and businesses in these areas were not consulted properly about the flags going up in the first place and they should have been taken down as soon as possible after the march.” “The parade organisers have denied responsibility for these particular flags. So I would urge all the political parties which operate in east Belfast to contribute money to rent a cherry-picker, so that the authorities can take them down without unnecessary cost to the taxpayer. Lamp-posts are not an appropriate place to display any type of flag and we shouldn’t tolerate a minority inflicting them on the majority for an indefinite period of time.”